[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hello everybody. it is monday. no, it's tuesday september 4. good morning everybody. good to see you. this is the "full court press" here on current tv coming to you live from charlotte north carolina and the democratic national convention. first of all michelle obama is the feet ushed speaker at tonight's opening ceremonies and this is a far different convention than we saw last week in tampa. you're going to see a lot more

delegates, about 5500 of them, much more diversity among the delegates here. more latinos than ever before. more african-americans than ever before. and a convention that's much more focused on the issues. no mystery guest either. no mystery guest. no empty chairs. we'll cover it from one end to the other. first, let's take a brief time-out to get the latest latest from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. good morning. >> good morning, everyone. the democrats have a lot to live up to this week after their convention in 2008. and here are a few things to watch out for as the dnc kicks off today. first off this is the democrat's big chance to make their case to american voters and respond to republican's attacks last week. more than 2/3 of people say they are not happy with the direction of the country meaning president obama will have to acknowledge that the economy is struggling while at the same time adding to his forward campaign proving he

has what it takes to get the country back on track. second even though the dnc is taking place in charlotte, do not expect north carolina voters to necessarily swing toward obama. he did win the state by less than half a percent in '508 but this year, polls show romney has a better chance of picking up the vote. according to a university study over the weekend romney is up 47% to 43%. romney also has the advantage of big fund-raising numbers. his campaign is reporting a $100 million haul for august. and now that he's the official republican nominee he has access to another $165 million which he'll likely use to boost his advertising campaign. meanwhile, we can expect the democrats to pull back on spending. obama did reach the $3.1 million donor mark meaning they have surpassed the number of donors in '08 but they still don't have the fund-raising power to keep

up with the republicans. more bill live from charlotte after the break. as always, we're live in chat, current.com/billpress. (vo) every news network will cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. brought to you by: spiriva handihaler. if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: let the games begin! here in charlotte. what do you say? good morning everybody. it is the "full court press." yes, we are on location at the democratic national convention. well things haven't gotten started quite yet. but here we are the first day of the convention in charlotte north carolina. at the big-time-warner cable arena. great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us. it is fun to be here and fun to

have you with us. we will be focus of course, on what we can expect today from the speakers at the convention. first lady michelle obama starting off tonight. bill clinton joe biden, john kerry and of course, tomorrow night and then president obama the featured speaker the acceptance speech at the bank of america stadium on thursday evening. about half a mile from here. it is all happening here in charlotte. that's why we're here. it is good to have you with us. where you happen to be in this great land of ours. 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. use that to give us a call and chime in on what you think about what you've heard leading up to the convention. still talking about all of the lies we heard from tampa. paul ryan still trying to make excuses. he's lying about how fast he can run a marathon. he will lie about anything. he will lie about his own age

probably. still a lot of afterthought about last week in tampa and a lot of excitement about this week here in charlotte. 1-866-55-press. now let's see how it's going to work here. peter ogborn in charlotte with me, sitting on my right. your left i guess. hello. >> nice to see you. >> bill: if it looks empty that's because it is. we're the early show here on radio row in charlotte. back in washington at the mother ship, dan henning and cyprian bowlding. hello, guys. we know -- oh, and stevie lee webb. we know you're there and then the crew out in los angeles as well. so we've got it all together. we have some very exciting guests for you. lots to talk about. charlotte, by the way peter, we gotta say charlotte is a great town. >> yeah, it is very good. >> bill: we've been having a good time.

the city is -- it's a beautiful city. it is a beautiful residential area. very vibrant downtown. a little bit too much security. >> i wouldn't try to drive downtown. >> bill: i wouldn't either. too many barriers, too many fences. too many cops. hard to get around. particularly if you're driving. but the city is really on this -- we've met the mayor. had a chance to talk to him last night. anthony fox has done a great job. it is a very vin recent, economically viable city. great restaurants and the people are really, really friendly. you found that. we have found that. >> yes absolutely. >> bill: and very diverse too. it is kind of a showplace i think of the south. >> absolutely. everything here is kind of new and nice and shiny and great and the people are nice. southern hospitality meets the new sound. >> bill: it is a different kind of convention. we find it very open. they've made every effort --

they keep calling it the most open convention ever. yesterday, for example i'm sure they didn't do this in tampa the main street of charlotte was all closed off. they invited everybody in. people from all over charlotte from all over around near charlotte, nearby states to come in for a big carolina fest. and they had booths and they're serving food and selling stuff and i mean it was like impossible to navigate. people were there with all of their kids their families. it was a family friendly thing. it was fun. james taylor performed. everything was going great until it rained. late afternoon. >> we've seen some rain. >> bill: we'll be talking to great guests for you. governor of delaware will be with us. david jackson is sitting by here

ready to come over. lee saunders, president of afscme will be joining us as well. first, as always, we get the real headlines from dan henning. >> this is the "full court press." >> good morning from washington. with other headlines making news singer seal has made some very direct remarks about his split from supermodel heidi klum announced earlier this year. the singer spoke to tmz in an impromptu interview and said i would have thought heidi would have shown a little more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help. that refers to klum getting together with her bodyguard after their separation. >> arnold didn't wait to fornicate with the help until he was separated. why should anybody else do anything more differently? >> true story. north carolina labor union members welcomed democratic convention goers to charlotte

with an interesting labor day campaign yesterday. a hug a thug campaign. abc news reports the local chapter of the afl-cio set up a booth to give anyone a hug that wanted one to show that labor has a loving side and all they want are loving protections for hard working americans. >> bill: i'm not sure hug a thug is the right theme. i get the spirit of it. >> not much change in the top selling beers in the united states. chicago-based market research firm similar symphony ri has bud light selling the most cases of beers in supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations for $5.4 billion in sales last year. but wiser coors light, miller lite and natural lite round out the top five. the closest brews of what could be considered a craft beer are

yingling and blue moon at number 19 on that list. >> bill: that is all taken before the recipe of the white house beer was released. that having been released over the weekend -- >> stay tuned! >> bill: stay tuned. i think it is honey blonde, honey brown. there are three of them. honey brown honey blonde. i forget the third one. as soon as i get back to washington, i'm going to get that recipe. i'm determined to get my hands on a bottle of that beer. talk to all of my friends at the white house. as we said, here at the democratic national convention, expect a different kind of show. i think a much more fun show. the headliners of course, michelle obama tonight. bill clinton, joe biden tomorrow night. and then all leading up to -- that would be here in the arena. if you can see -- i'm not sure

exactly what the shot looks like. but risking turning my back to you. right over my shoulder where you see that time-warner arena that is the hall. and it is fantastic. just looks spectacular. been in there already this morning. that's where all of the ceremonies and the balloting and everything will take place here. that's where the first lady will speak tonight. this is the time-warner cable arena. joe biden, john kerry will speak and many others. then thursday night the whole show moves to the 74,000 seat bank of america arena. there are two challenges there. one is to fill it up. 74,000 people. and the other of course, is to hope that it doesn't rain. we were told yesterday that they're preparing for all -- they're preparing to hold the

event there rain or shine. but they're also making contingency plans. we're never sure quite what that means. some 5500 delegates. the oldest delegate to this convention is 98 years old. the youngest delegate to the convention is 17 years old. but will be 18 by november 6th and able to vote in this election. i picked up that information yesterday. in this convention, there's really only one question. and i'm curious tho see this morning that it is front page "new york times," front page "washington post." it is what everybody is talking about. it is a question that dominated the sunday talk shows over the weekend. that is are you better off today than you were four years ago. the answer to that is yes. president obama easily re-elected. the people are not certain. it could be close. romney might even be able to

win. you know that question first asked by -- maybe not first but most famously asked by ronald reagan back in 1980 when jimmy carter was running for re-election and ronald reagan running against him. are you better off than you were four years ago. the answer then was clearly no. it was a good question to ask then. i'm not sure republicans ought to be asking it today because i think it is a different answer today. democrats finally, on this issue and love your take on that. 1-866-55-press. let's get into it. democrats got off to a little rocky start on sunday. bob schieffer welcomed governor martin o'malley whom i think is great by the way. clearly will be a candidate for president in 2016. great leader. but he wasn't thinking as fast as he usually does when bob schieffer asked him this question on sunday and he stumbled a little bit. >> can you honestly say that

people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no. but that's not the question of this election. the question, without a doubt we are not as well off as we were before george bush brought us the bush job losses, the bush recession, the bush deficits, the series of desert wars. >> bill: he got around to it but no the question is -- the answer should have been yes we are even though we still have -- by monday, 24 hours later governor o'malley had recovered plus some. here he is. >> here's the reality of our situation. we are clearly better off as a country because we're now creating jobs rather than losing them. but soledad we have not recovered all that we lost in the bush recession. that's why we need to continue to move forward. >> bill: and vice president joe biden was out on the campaign trail in ohio. i'm sorry. in wisconsin.

ohio and then wisconsin i believe. at any rate, joe biden spoke to this as well and repeat adeline that he's used quite often in the campaign which sums up where we are today. >> you want to know whether we're better off, i got a little bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. >> bill: leave it to joe to get it out there. i gotta tell you i think the answer is -- look it's true. we're not perfect. and things are far from perfect. there are too many people still hurting, particularly in the middle class especially the middle class. only the middle class and the poor. the well-to-do are doing fine. too many people still hurting. too many people out of a job. too many graduates out of schools, can't find their first job. still in so many ways, when you ask that question, are we better off today than we are four years ago, the answer is damn straight. absolutely we are. let's talk about the ways in

which we are. ones that pop into my head. in terms of wars, we were mired down in two long wars. today, the war in iraq is over. we're winding down the war in afghanistan. look at healthcare. some 50 million americans could not afford to -- couldn't get healthcare even if they could afford to buy it four years ago. today, there are 36 million more americans covered by health insurance, pre-existing condition requirement on the part of insurance companies no longer list. healthcare is in place. we're as close to universal healthcare something we've talked about for 100 years we're as close to it as we've ever been in this country. look at the market. market was below nine, maybe even below eight under george w. bush. today it's aren't you tenley -- routinely closing above 13,000. corporate profits reported for the last three years. the highest ever on record. one record after another. look at the automobile industry.

four years ago in bad, bad shape. mitt romney saying we ought to let it collapse. president obama moved in. today, the auto industry is back bigger than ever. i mean jobs, 800,000 jobs lost. private sector jobs lost in january 2009. we hear that all the time. it's important to remember for the last 26 months, every one of those months, we've created over 100,000 private sector jobs. we've gone from minus 800,000 to a plus 100,000 or 200,000. again, too many people out of work. still, we're back into positive jobs growth. i think that's the message you'll hear out of this convention in many ways. not only from the leaders of the party but from people who have benefitted from the obama presidency, the obama administration. and people, testimonials from real individuals who have been hurt by mitt romney's policies

at bain capital. are you better off today? are we better off as a people today than we were four years ago? i say damn straight. what do you say? 1-866-55-press. 20 minutes after the hour. we'll come back and take your calls here on the "full court press" live from charlotte north carolina. and the democratic national convention. we'll be right back. be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you.

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>> announcer: broadcasting live from charlotte, north carolina the site of the democratic national convention, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: hey, what do you say everybody? 25 minutes after the hour on a tuesday and here we are in charlotte, north carolina. a lot of people i've run into here said so were you in tampa last week? and i said hell, no. i don't want to be in tampa and hang out with all of those crazy ass republicans. i'm home here. this is the place to be, charlotte, north carolina. for the democratic national convention. it is going to be a great show. from what we can see so far very, very well-organized. they know the message. the message here has to be that we are number one. better off today far far better off than we were four years ago. and the president has a better plan for taking us forward than mitt romney has so no reason to vote for that guy. no reason even to consider it.

at all. 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. it is "full court press" on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station. of course, and on sirius x.m. this hour only. let's go to the phones, lots of people want to chime in on this convention. you're excited about it as i am. here's kathy in houston texas. good morning. >> caller: good morning. pleasure to talk to you. >> bill: what do you think? >> caller: i just wanted to speak to are you better off? yes, we are. my husband is making about $8,000 to $9,000 a year more. >> bill: really? >> caller: all of my children are working. it is great. >> bill: you are blessed and lucky, kathy. >> caller: i know. >> bill: not a lot of people were making more today than they were four years ago. but i'm glad to hear that. >> caller: i think president -- i thank president obama for that directly. >> bill: you gotta get that message out there right? >> caller: i do. i tell my whole family from

georgia to oregon. we're all voting for obama. >> bill: what kind of truck does your husband do? >> caller: he hauls sand to the oil rigs. >> bill: business is booming. glad to hear from you. how about elaine out in tucson, arizona. hi elaine. good morning. are you better off? >> caller: yes bill. i'm a senior citizen and i'm better off with my social security and my medicare. and my medical bills are not as high. but i want to say that out of five -- >> bill: you know what? elaine, your phone is breaking up. i didn't hear the last comment but i gotta tell you you're better off with your social security and medicaid and medicare. you know, as well as i do, elaine, it won't be there if mitt romney and paul ryan have their way. they want to get rid of all of

them. so seniors had better, better beware. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

>> announcer: live from the democratic national convention in charlotte north carolina, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: all right. here we go. back at the democratic convention. 33 minutes after the hour on a tuesday morning september 4. good to see you. things get underway here late this afternoon. leading up to the big 10:00 p.m. major speech by first lady michelle obama on the first day of the democratic national convention. yesterday, labor day. and joining us in studio, good

friend of the program good friend of mine, see him at the white house whenever there is a white house briefing, there is not one every day. you can't say that. david jackson covers the white house for "usa today." frequent guest on the show. david, i think first time you've been in front of the cameras on current tv. >> i'm very impressed with the operation here. >> bill: good to see you. you were in tampa, right? >> i was. i'm really dragging here. >> bill: yeah, you're dragging. i'll bet. one of the interesting things coming out of tampa. gallup did a poll and showed that they asked people so what did you think about romney's speech? excellent or good. only 38% of people said it was excellent or good which is the lowest in i don't know, 20 or 30 years. four years ago 58% said they thought president obama's speech in denver at that big mile-high stadium was excellent or good. john kerry four years before that 52% excellent or good.

i didn't think mitt romney was that bad. didn't think it was great. were you surprised? >> i am surprised at the low numbers. i was very surprised by it. one thing started late thanks in part to the clint eastwood situation. after 10:30 and ran on until about 11:15. i wonder if that didn't distract from his reviews. i was surprised by the numbers. >> bill: it might have. people were forced to stay up so late. overall, do you think republicans came out of that convention with what they needed to in terms of a mess -- the idea of the convention is to put your message out for the general campaign and to get some kind of bounce in the polls. >> they didn't get a bounce in our polls, the daily track is basically the same as it was before it started. it stayed pretty flat. they manufacturized the personal qualities of mitt romney. i think they felt like enough

people didn't know about him. they spent a lot of time on biographies as opposed to policy. >> bill: almost every speaker. >> i don't know if they regret that or not. i thought they pull up pretty well. the republicans felt good about it thursday night and friday morning as they were leaving tampa. he's not that far behind if he is behind. it looks like a dead tie. >> bill: on the national polls. paul ryan's speech. every article i've seen about paul ryan's speech talks more about the -- whatever you want to call them -- misstatements "the associated press" called them factual shortcuts. people who are more blunt like me call them lies. but he got a lot of grief for twisting the truth let's say. >> reminded me of a lawyer in a civil suit will twist the facts to suit his own argument. >> bill: for example, the

medicare thing. hitting president obama for that $716 billion in cuts to medicare or however you want to describe them, getting rid of some waste and fraud where he does the very same thing. he didn't tell that side of the story. do you think he can get away with that? nobody would know? people like you and me would say hey, wait a minute. >> i think the democrats are trying to do to paul ryan what republicans did to al gore. taking the exaggerations and spin it that he's not a truth teller. remember gore and the internet thing. same thing is happening with paul ryan. >> bill: don't you think the message might be you've really gotta be careful today? you cannot say something -- particularly now with -- we have the fact check people. under heat from the republicans. >> bill: when neil newhouse, the pollster for mitt romney says we're not going to let the

fact checkers dictate to us, what does that say to you? >> the fact checkers are under attack from a lot of conservative organizations because they're not checking facts, they're checking spin. that was part of it. part of why neil said what he said. one thing -- such a polarized atmosphere. a lot of republicans love paul ryan. they would just as soon have paul ryan at the top of the ticket. one of the reasons it is getting attention, democrats are looking at paul ryan. they'll see him. they're already starting to dig in on some of the things he says. but politics is going to say things. they won't hear the republicans say a great commentary about their plans. i think this is the nature of politics personally. >> what i wonder is if it is has gone it to this extent that you can say whatever you want about obama care, that it's not working or it is working but to

take a fact, come back to the $716 billion or the welfare to work thing well romney keeps saying. every fact checker keeps saying it is simply not the case. so today when the media is reporting on this, i think media -- it seems to me, it is really a question. the reporters are more likely to include that in their stories. >> oh, yeah. you have to give the whole context. i call it context checking. you have to explain ryan talks about the $716 billion. you have to explain to readers and walk them through it. it is complicated stuff. you have to take a deep breath and walk people through it. >> bill: how do you explain that paul ryan told hue hewitt he had run the marathon in under three hours. 2:50. >> it went from 2:50 to 4:01. >> bill: four hours one minute and 25 seconds.

i'm not a marathon runner. peter is. but for marathon runners that's a big deal. >> exactly. turns out he ran a slower marathon than sarah palin. one of those strange little things that happens. you know people that tend to exaggerate their resumes. happens in our business and certainly happens in the political business. >> bill: he's not a fisherman. it wasn't this big the fish that got away. so you're in tampa and here you are in charlotte. what do the democrats have to do here? what are you anticipating? what are you looking for as a reporter? >> just how president obama makes his case. the speech by the presidential candidate just as they did last week in tampa. how does president obama make the case. how does he explain why the economy is not where we want it to be and how is he going to improve things in the next four years. also in this case, how much he

spends talking about himself as opposed to how much he spends talking about mitt romney. how will he -- how will he divide that in his own speech on thursday night. >> bill: "the new york times" this morning again we're talking with david jackson here with us in charlotte. david, his normal beat is the white house covering the white house for "usa today." it is "full court press." we're glad to take your calls and join the conversation. i guess we still have a seat, extra seat at the table as we say. there's room in this convention hall for sure. 1-866-55-press is the toll free number to join the conversation. at any time. we were talking about the first page -- the big question for this week on the front page of "the new york times." front page of "the washington post." bob schieffer raised it as well as others did on the sunday shows. are you better off than you were four years ago.

democrats i guess have decided to tackle that directly, right? most americans are. >> sunday morning shows i think everybody asked that question. some of president obama's aides had problems answering it. they kind of -- it seemed they equivocated on that answer. that's what led to the stories this morning. >> bill: cheerly some people are still hurting so they have to acknowledge that. >> right. some statistics haven't improved much since january of 2009. others have. i was surprised they didn't know how to field it. you talk about the things that have improved and you ignore the things that haven't improved. surprised they equiv kate on that on sunday. yesterday, they came out saying of course people are better than they were four years ago. people picked up on that. hence you see the stories this morning. >> bill: that's the key question. seems to me there are two. that question. are you better off today than

you were four years ago. are we better off as a people. and then the next question is who's got the better plan for going forward. >> ronald reagan made that question famous. are you better off now than you were four years ago. he raised that in a debate with jimmy carter. it has been a template ef err since. things were so bad when obama took over. they're not real great. now people are starting to wonder why haven't things taken off more under obama. >> bill: at the white house you and i have heard president obama. he never talks about progress made without making -- at least i've never heard him without making the point yes but at the same time, there are too many people who are hurting. too many people are still out of work. we have much more -- i think -- 29 straight months of job growth. numbers have gone up. they haven't gone up very much. they haven't gone up to the point to where they can keep up with other loss in the economy.

>> bill: back to that question we start at the very top of the hour. are we better off than we are four years ago. david jackson with us here. we're at the time-warner cable arena in charlotte north carolina. join the conversation. 1-866-55-press. the first day of the democratic national convention. we'll be right back here on the "full court press." unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

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(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> announcer: starting on time and with better weather from the site of the democratic national

convention in charlotte, north carolina, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: yeah, we are starting on time. it was scheduled to start today and it is going to start today and there is no hurricane. that's true. >> slightly better weather. >> bill: we had a little bit of rain. >> slightly better weather. >> bill: oh, come on, big difference. we are in charlotte at the time-warner cable arena. david jackson covers the white house for "usa today." was in tampa. now here in charlotte with us and glad to take your calls. and peter ogborn in charlotte as well. so dade, the biggest news out of the white house is that the white house chef has released the recipe for the white house beer. have you ever seen a bottle of this beer? >> i have not. >> bill: you're a senior member, former president of the white house correspondents association. you would think you would get one of the first bottles. >> i'm very upset.

i'm going to ask the correspondent's association to petition to have the beer served at the next white house christmas party. so we'll see what happens. as somebody who worked with dick clark a couple of times, dick clark was a giant. dick clark really did make a huge impact and had a huge influence on popular culture in this country. i don't think glenn beck has a prayer of having the same kind of influence that dick clark did nor do i think he will be -- his passing will be mourned the way dick clark's was. not so long ago. the other -- the other issue that's still out there, of course, we'll be talking with the head of the firefighters a little bit later in the program about this. is still a lot of reaction to mitt romney really -- really

saying the private sector is doing just >> bill: lots of our lisseners are into this convention. steve is out in chino california. what do you say steve? >> caller: good morning. >> bill: what's up? >> caller: personally, no, i'm not doing better than i was four years ago. i know this country is doing a hell of a lot better than it was four years ago. just let everybody know president obama wasn't president four years ago. >> bill: that question means under his term really. but you say you yourself are not and yet still you see the benefit for the country.

>> caller: oh, absolutely. the country is moving forward. four years ago, it is like today, they're talking about labor day gas prices. they're up 12 cents over four years ago. but they had just gone up. a refinery in san francisco burnt down. under president bush in june of 2008, the gas was $4.40 coming down. so you know, it is one way you know, things are looking better and on the other way things were on their way down. this president brought us back from the brink with opposition. he was stopped at every single term. they tried to say he had government for two years. he actually only had seven months between al frank and scott brown. so if they had gotten out of the way and tried to help us, we would be doing a lot better than we were. they wouldn't be running against this president. >> bill: i got it, steve. i hear you. david, it is one factor. i wonder if we're going to hear from the democrats that okay,

yes, we're doing better. we would be doing even better if we had more cooperation from republicans. >> i think for the things that are going well, they'll take credit for. for the things that aren't going well they'll blame congress for. especially the republicans. that's the two step you'll see from them. >> bill: with effectively a do-nothing congress, it is not difficult to make the argument and it looks like from the poll numbers we've seen, most americans -- >> numbers for congress are amazing. they're in single digits in terms of favorability. >> bill: are they down that low now? quick comment from eric in harlem new york. thanks for joining us. >> caller: hey bill, welcome back. i'm fired up and looking forward to this convention here. i do believe also this country is moving forward. one of the things i do want to comment on quickly i am kind of like set up with this both sides do it stuff that's coming out of the media to try to be partisan.

you know. call a liar a liar. paul ryan lied throughout that convention. the convention was a flop. and i think the democrats are going to have a better convention and talk about the story of moving this country forward. >> bill: eric, appreciate hearing from you. i guess that's what people want this week, right? they want to hear -- >> red meat. >> bill: and what obama's plan is and to the extent that mitt romney was not specific or forthcoming about where -- what he would do to get those 12 million jobs or to get his energy -- or promises he made, president obama probably will be more specific in his proposals. >> i think a lot of obama's speech will be in response to romney's speech. romney talked about he had a 5-point plan. it was at the end of the speech. i know he started talking about at the end of the speech.

we'll just have to see how it plays out. >> bill: david jackson fun to work with you and have you here in charlotte. thanks store stopping -- thanks for stopping by. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: it is first day one again of this democratic national convention. and we are here on the national convention floor. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years.

>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: hey, lots of comments >> bill: okay. here in charlotte time for a couple of quick e-mails. jim carver e-mails in, hey bill, i've been a huge fan of clint eastwood. it was sad to see him reach the point where the empty chair should have had his caretaker seated. maybe they could have kept him from making such an ass of himself if that were the case. yeah. i'll tell you he did make an ass of himself but mitt romney is the one who invited him. speaking of making an ass of yourself. lee saunders will be joining us as well as stephanie the head of emily's list. and christine pelosi, one of the leading democrats from california so stay tuned here for the democratic national

convention and the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

>> bill: hello everybody. welcome to the democratic national convection. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. good to see you today. it is tuesday tuesday september 4. we're live in charlotte at the time-warner cable arena. and the big question here in charlotte, of course, is are you bert off today -- are we better off today than we were four

years ago. the answer to that is clearly yes. damn straight we are. true. a lot of middle class americans are hurting. we as a people are better off. two wars have ended. the auto industry is back bigger stronger than ever. 36 million americans have healthcare who never had it before. damn right, we're better off than we were before. we'll talk about that with our guest here from the democratic national convention. first, let's check in on the latest. say hello to lisa ferguson out in los angeles with today's current news update. hi lisa. take it away. good morning. >> hi, bill. good morning everyone. as bill mentioned democrats and republicans trading jobs over whether the country is better off now than it was four years ago. democrats, of course, say absolutely. that moving forward the president will be better for the economy than mitt romney whose policies would raise taxes on the middle class. that is in response to paul ryan's claim comparing president

obama to jimmy carter as the only two presidents since the great depression who have worsened the economy during their four years in office. well, here is a little fact check for you this coming from abc saying ryan's numbers believe out should -- leave out some very important data. for one unemployment was higher under ronald reagan than it is now or than it was in 1980 when carter was president. reagan had a 9.8 unemployment rate in july of '82. ryan also said that 330,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy in 1980 and that 1.4 million did so last year. that's just not true. the numbers are actually for total bankruptcies which include individuals. as for the real numbers, less than 44,000 businesses filed bankruptcy in 1980 and 48,000 did so last year. and before we wrap up, a quick line-up of speakers for tonight. we'll have michelle obama along

with maryland governor martin o'malley a potential contender for 2016. more bill is coming up! stay with us. this year the presidential campaigns are running a record number of ads targeting hispanic voters, who may well decide the election. [spanish vo] but it was the jfk campaign that ran the first tv ads in spanish. [spanish] >> in 1960, it's not that the hispanic vote was not that big but it was concentrated in a few crucial states. (vo) but it was 40 years later that another presidential candidate really spoke to the hispanic voter: bush: gracias! >> as the governor of texas, he understood the growing political power of latinos. (vo) and now more than ever, candidates have to both walk the walk, and talk the talk.

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: no hurricane here in charlotte. uh-huh. we said we're going to get started on tuesday and we're starting on tuesday. just a little bit of rain. good morning, everybody. great to see you today. welcome to the "full court press" here from -- live from the democratic national convention. first day of the convention in the time-warner cable arena and that's where we're located here on radio row. good to have you with us.

wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours. we bring the convention to you here on the "full court press" and take your calls as always at 1-866-55-press. very exciting day today. things get started in this convention center arena right over my shoulder here. where first lady michelle obama will be the featured speaker tonight. tomorrow night it will be joe biden and former president bill clinton. and then thursday, we all move from here to the bank of america arena which is about -- i don't know, maybe half a mile away here also in downtown charlotte. where president obama will give his acceptance speech in front of 74,000 people here in charlotte. so it is very exciting time. a very exciting week. and it is good to have you all of you with us, wherever you happen to be. and give you a taste of charlotte. again, our toll free number to join the conversation is

1-866-55-press. we're coming to you live on current tv and live on your progressive talk radio station. we're very pleased to welcome to the program this morning and to our table here on radio row, the new president of afscme, long-time strong sponsor of progressive talk radio the "full court press" and a good personal friend, lee saunders. good to see you. >> good seeing you bill. >> bill: did you bring clint eastwood with you? >> did i. we started our afscme caucus sunday. and i invited him to speak. >> bill: so i understand. >> nothing to say. >> bill: does mitt romney have anything to say? >> no. nor did paul ryan. we kicked the chair off the

stage. >> bill: i saw a headline this morning, something like disgruntled labor leader kicks chair off stage. i knew it was you. >> we're not just disgruntled we're fired up. we're going to mobilize not only our members. not only afscme but the entire labor movement. our communities. our allies and our coalition partners. we're going to get the job done in november. >> bill: lee saunders is here with us. peter ogborn is here in charlotte. >> i'm here. >> bill: and back in washington, d.c. at the mother ship, dan henning cyprian bowlding and phil answering calls this morning. we've got it covered here and there. lee, if ryan and romney and clint eastwood had nothing to say, the democrats have lots to say. >> talk about the success of the

past four years. saving the auto industry. >> bill: so that question, to start right there is are you -- everybody is asking, "new york times," "washington post," are you better off today than you are four years ago. >> the nation is better off because of healthcare reform, because of the economic stimulus which created 3.3 million jobs. tax cuts for the middle class. but we've got a long way to go. if you want to ask specifically are our members in better shape no they aren't but it is not because of the obama administration. it is because of the policies that are put forth in state and local governments by these right wing governors and elected officials who are trying to steal our voices away from us. >> bill: when ronald reagan first asked that question under jimmy carter things are different. i think even some democrats at the time might have said hmm we're not really sure. but look at over the last four years, as you mentioned healthcare. looking at jobs. looking at jobs, looking at the

market. the market is already at 13,000. it was under 8,000 when obama took over. two wars that have -- one has ended, the other is winding down. auto industry, you mentioned. in so many ways, as country this country -- he's been able to move the country forward. >> there's no doubt about it. that's why he deserves another four years. that's why we're going to be fighting like never before and walking the streets and making phone calls and knocking on doors. it is going to be a massive movement. by the labor movement and our community partners to get the job done. >> bill: the other question is who's got the best -- i think facing this convention and a message out of this convention is who -- which candidate has the best plan for moving forward, right? as far as your members go, afscme, for the most part, public employees right? >> correct. public service workers. >> bill: public service workers. there is a real difference between these two candidates and

your members. >> well, listen, all you've got to do is take a look at what was said last week at the republican national convention. i don't call it the republican national convention. i call it all lies and no solutions. that was the title of that show last week. where paul ryan just got up -- only thing he had right was his name. >> bill: lie after lie after lie. they have no solutions whatsoever. they want to continue to give more money and power to the top 1% of this country. at the expense of the 99% the expense of working families and the middle class and we can't let that happen. >> bill: tell us about the impact so far of the -- the fact that the house -- the congress, particularly the house has refused to pass any of the president's jobs bill. what impact has had that on public employees? >> state local governments are suffering all over the country. as a matter of fact, we're experiencing still furloughs and layoffs. the public sector is hurting there.

needs to be another stimulus package. another jobs program and that's exactly what president obama proposed. it was dead on arrival with the congress we've got there. that's why it is so important that we roll up our sleeves and prepare for november. jobs is the number one issue in this country. quality jobs the creation of quality jobs. it is just not happening right now based upon the republican and transigents that exist on capitol hill. >> bill: those would get worse under the ryan budget. >> no question. you look at the medicaid cuts and changing medicare as we know it. privatizing services all over the country. this would be a dark day. a terrible day. then you look at the platform and they talk about right to work, national right to work. >> bill: every state. >> no dues checkoff for unions. they talk about eliminating our political involvement across the country. you looked at all of those kinds of things, taking away collective bargaining as scott walker did in wisconsin.

i want the republicans to keep on talking and talking and talking because it is pumping up our members more and more and more and i think it is pumping up working families. >> bill: one of the stories lee saunders is with us, the president of afscme. and here in charlotte with a -- how many delegates? >> we have 180 delegates and alternates. >> bill: you should have your own -- you should have your own section. the state of afscme, right. so when you look at -- we heard mitt romney last week, i'll paraphrase him. he basically looked at the camera and said i'm here to promise you that i will take care of you and your family. >> give me a break! i mean come on! where are their proposals that are going to support and help working families? they believe in this trickle

down economics. everybody knows that doesn't work. he's not supporting the average american trying to play by the rules every single day. send the kids to school, put bread on the table. that's what people have got to realize. that's what we're educating them about. >> bill: one coming into this convention, one of the stories that the media was trying to -- [crashing sounds] >> that was mitt romney's bus that just drove in. >> latest poll numbers for romney dropping on the ground. >> bill: these republicans trying to disrupt us. we aren't going to let it happen. the media was trying to -- organized labor is not happy with obama. they're staying away. they're not all here in charlotte. if there's any shred of truth any members whether they're union members or not workers working families out there who are unsure or uncertain what is

your message to them? >> my message is to look at what's been done over the past four years and what the president is proposing the next four years and then compare that with what romney and ryan are talking about and the direction that they want to move the country. they want to take this country backwards. they want to take away our right to exist as far as labor unions are concerned. >> bill: totally. >> wages are stifled right now. our pensionings are being -- they have no hope. >> bill: there's no doubt between the two of them, that's what we're down to. we're down to barack obama or mitt romney. one of them is pro-american worker. the other is not. >> it is simple as that. that's what we have to communicate. communicate it very simply and loudly and clearly. we're in charlotte north carolina. you mention that. we would have preferred being in another city. but you know what?

that's over with. what we've got to do now is leave charlotte after this convention is over and we've got to do what we do best and that's putting boots on the ground. we had 40,000 activists and leaders and volunteers on the ground in 2008. s ofafscme is going to have 80,000 boots on the ground this year. the afl-cio has a new program worker's voice. we'll have 400,000 union members that are going to be working in their communities across this country. not only knocking on union doors and union households but knocking on every single household in our communities to get the word out. >> bill: you heard it. that's the ground force president obama needs. it will be providing lee saunders great work, great leadership. thank you for stopping by today. >> enjoyed being here. >> bill: thanks for being such a strong supporter of the show from the beginning. lee saunders here. my union brother. we'll be right back here on the "full court press" talking with stephanie from emily's list.

50% of the delegates here. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: broadcasting live from charlotte, north carolina the site of the democratic national convention, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: good morning y'all. i guess that's what you're suppose to the say here. good morning y'all and welcome to charlotte the democratic national convention. the "full court press" here on this tuesday morning. the first day of the democratic national convention. we're live on radio row in the

time warner cable arena where the convention will open tonight and we've been joined -- been having conversation here on my left -- your right i guess. i can't figure it out with lee saunders, the president of afscme. we're joined now on my right now on the left with stephanie the president of emily's list. great to see you both. >> good morning. stephanie, let me start with you. so the secretary of the dnc announced a full 50% of the delegates to this convention are women. >> that's right. >> bill: you look at some of the great candidates that we've got across the country today. there is an important message here for women coming out of this convention this week. >> that's right. the democrats actually walk the walk, not just do the talk. after we watched the republican convention last week where they tried to do the talk, they just can't do it. they don't stand up for those values and quite frankly their policies really, really do not

stand for women. so you're going to see a lot of great women this week. a lot of great women's candidates that emily's list is supporting from elizabeth warren to tammy baldwin. we have a lot to talk about. >> elizabeth warren walked by a little while ago. >> yes, she did. >> bill: lee, there is a real link here because with public sector employees a large percentage of them are women. >> 56% of our membership is women. >> bill: is that right? the impact of the jobs that have been lost and the policies of paul ryan, mitt romney would particularly adversely affect women as well. >> that's exactly right. that's why we're working in close coordination with emily's list and our coalition partners to get the job done. >> it has been such a great partnership all year. really when we started to see everything happening in wisconsin a year and a half ago it has been such an incredible partnership. for women around the country, it is so critical that we elect

democrats. we gotta re-elect barack obama. we gotta make sure we're electing strong democrats. i prefer to see a lot more democratic women in the house and senate but it is about healthcare. it is about economics. this is all the same for women and families. it all comes together. >> bill: what i thought was interesting, i really was amused by particularly mitt romney's speech. but throughout the week, starting with ann romney, right? they tried their best in tampa to say we believe -- we believe in women. we listen to you. >> i think she said she loves women. >> bill: that's right. we love you. >> which i don't doubt. >> bill: all of the women -- went out of the way to say we're your friends. what's the truth? >> they don't have a single policy that stands up for women and families. they're not a friend of families

on across this country. on the economic side, it is outrageous. if you look at their medicare plan to turn this into a voucher system. we're talking again majority of people on medicare are women. this is a dangerous party from healthcare to economic values and they are not in favor of women. >> organizations like emily's list and the trade union movement and other partners across the country willing to spread the word and to educate voters and to talk about the real and distinct differences that exist. there are some very distinct differences. >> bill: by the way i must say, whoever came up with the voucher care as opposed to medicare, i think that's a great -- because they never use the word -- they never say the word voucher. >> did you even hear the word voucher? i didn't hear the word. voucher care. >> i didn't hear mitt romney too

much when people were speaking. >> it was interesting, wasn't it lee? >> bill: to compare the two. medicare and voucher care says it all. >> it does. >> bill: stephanie when there was so much flap about todd akin. republicans think they can move past him. we won't send him money. you may not have todd akin. but paul ryan is todd akin. >> thank you. thank you. it was just amazing to watch these republicans scramble against todd akin but the truth of the matter is i think they move so quickly because he was saying what they believe in. they just didn't want anybody to know. they've been trying to keep it quiet. >> you look at the platform. just take a look at the platform. that they're supporting. the delegates are supporting and the republican party is supporting. that should send a loud and strong message to progressives in this country to working

families, to women to minorities. it should send a strong message that they want to take this country backwards. we want to continue to move it forward. >> that's exactly right. it continues to have the platform piece where there's absolutely no exceptions in the cases of rape and incest. this is how little they think about women and women's abilities to make the right choices in their lives. it is really outrageous. >> bill: so when mitt romney says that's the party platform, that's not my platform? you don't buy it? >> well, he did choose paul ryan to be his running mate and paul ryan not only supports the platform. he's cosponsored bills to put the platform in place. i think we've got a mighty extreme ticket that wants to move us backwards. barack obama wants to move us forward. stephanie, great to see you. thank you for stopping by. >> my pleasure. >> bill: thank you, lee saunders. >> thank you. >> bill: it is day one of the democratic national convention live from charlotte

north carolina. we are here! >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

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peppermint that cools as you chew. stimulate your senses. 5 gum. now in micro pack. >> announcer: live from the democratic national convention in charlotte, north carolina this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: and greetings from charlotte and the democratic national convention. it is the time-warner cable arena starting to fill up with a few people early here in the morning. things don't really get underway until late this afternoon, early evening. building up to the big speech this evening by first lady michelle obama. very exciting week. very exciting time here to be in

charlotte, of course. and so glad to have all of you with us here on the "full court press" coming to you live on 33 minutes after the hour on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv. elizabeth warren just walking by. she's heading down to the floor for a television appearance. the floor of the convention, the big convention hall is right in back of us here. we're actually located on radio row during radio and tv from radio row. i think it is the first time there has been a television show broadcast from radio row and glad to be a pioneer in that area. having a good time in charlotte. facing the number one question, taking your calls of course on the number one question that has been raised at this convention and republicans have raised this question and i'm not sure they're right in doing so but if

they have, let's face it head on as far as i'm concerned. the question is are you better off than you were four years ago. and the variation on that, are we better off as a people. than we were four years ago? i think the answer to that is clearly yes. you bet. absolutely. damn straight we are. 1-866-55-press. as we mention with lee saunders in the last half hour, sure when ronald reagan first asked that question and jimmy carter was running for re-election, maybe the answer was no. we're not better off. things have gotten worse. and they did. but far different from the way things are today when barack obama is running for re-election. you ask that question today and i think the answer clearly is again, yes damn straight.

absolutely. martin, governor martin o'malley had a little problem with that sunday when he was talking with bob schieffer. bob schieffer posed a question and martin o'malley stumbled just a little bit. here's that response. >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no but that's not the question of this election. the question without a doubt we are not as well off as we were before george bush brought us the -- >> bill: i know what he was trying to say but okay, when you start with no. you're not starting on the right tone. i don't think you're saying it the way things really are. monday, governor o'malley appeared with soledad o'brien on cnn and he had -- he had gotten the message the way it ought to be said. >> here's the reality of our situation as a country. we are clearly better off as a

country because we're now creating jobs rather than losing them. but soledad we have not recovered all that we lost in the bush recession. that's why we need to continue to move forward. >> bill: so yes governor o'malley says even though we did start in a deep, deep, deep hole, vice president biden over the weekend said if you want to -- he asked me that question, i'll give it to you in a bumper sticker. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive. that's kind of sums it up. i think democrats face that question squarely and say absolutely. if you look -- true. as we talked in the last hour, too many americans particularly middle class americans are still hurting. too many people are still out of a job. overall, as a people in so many ways, we're far better off than we were four years ago. four years ago two major wars and today one of them is over.

the war in iraq. wa -- war in afghanistan is winding down. auto industry was on the brink of bankruptcy four years ago. today, back, bigger, better than ever. building better cars than ever. look at healthcare. 50 million americans four years ago without healthcare. couldn't get it even if they could afford it. today, 36 million more americans have healthcare. never had it before and the healthcare industry is the fastest-growing part of this economy. you can go on and on about the improvements in healthcare -- i forget how many millions of young people up to the age of 26 now have healthcare because they were able to stay on their parent's healthcare policy. and of course, for american women, contraception preventive healthcare, mammograms and everything are available for -- available under health insurance

policy and with no co-pay. and jobs. the area of jobs. we were losing 800,000 jobs. just a fact. the numbers. 800,000 jobs in the first month when president obama took office. today, for the last 29 months, we've had positive job growth over 100,000. in many, many ways, let's face the question head on and tell the truth. the answer is yes yes yes. our phone number, 1-866-55-press. join the conversation here in charlotte. 1-866-55-press. two questions. that's the first one. second question is if we're better off now who do we trust going forward? who's got better plan for going forward? who's going to take the country in the direction that we want to take it and build on the progress over the last four years. get to that question second. first question is we have to start there. are we better off as americans

than we were four years ago. the answer is absolutely yes. peter ogborn standing by here. peter. >> i was going to say we posted this on our facebook question, are you better off now than four years ago. michelle weighs in, there was no way to fix this mess in four years and it is going to be harder to fix it when you have a congress that destructs at every turn. keith writes in on facebook, there are more unemployed people in the mecklenburg county than there are seats at bank of america stadium. 17% true unemployment rate here in charlotte in mech lenberg county. rick writes in, rick rodrick in the short run, i don't think so. we're not better off but in the long run i believe that i am. the other question is am i better off than i would have been if john mccain had won. i feel a bit more certain of that. >> bill: that's a different way of asking that same question isn't it? >> exactly. we have the question up on our facebook page. go to facebook and look for bill press up there. >> bill: if you don't go to

the facebook page, go to the phones. 1-866-55-press. give us a call here in charlotte. we'll take your calls when we come back on the "full court press" and tell you more about what we can expect out of later today on the convention floor. and this week in charlotte. the "full court press" live from charlotte. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past

it doesn't matter who you are. she was trying to be cool. she walks in, bonus, bonus bonus, bonus. [ screaming ] by the way in heels, the same height. [ applause ] >> wow. >> stephanie: she's awesome. as is john fuglesang. thank you, boston. 18 minutes after the hour. let's continue on "the stephanie miller show." >> announcer: for a good time,

>> announcer: live from the democratic national convention in charlotte north carolina, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: happy tuesday. tuesday, september 4. first day of the democratic national convention and we are here in charlotte. live at the time-warner cable arena. good to have you with us. we're taking your calls about the question are you better off today, are we better off today is really the question, than we were four years ago. damn straight. if you ask me. before we get to your calls, at 1-866-55-press. a little bit about this qefntion is going to look a lot different than last week's convention in tampa, florida. for one thing, there are more delegates than -- a lot more democratic delegates than republican delegates. just the way the convention is arranged. i think it is 5,556 delegates here. largest delegation by far is california with well over 600.

the oldest delegate is 98 years old. the youngest is 17. but we were assured yesterday that he will be 18 in time to vote on november 6th. 50% of the delegates here are -- first of all, there is a lot more diversity among the delegates here. you can see it walking around. many many more african-americans, latinos 100 more latinos than there were delegates in 2004. in 2008, i'm sorry. 50%, full 50% of the delegates here are women. interesting yesterday the sergeant at arms of the democratic national convention this year was named. elected. and he is the honorable john lewis. great civil rights leader. real legend in his time. and he will be serving in that post here at the convention.

so you're going to see a lot of things happening differently here. very open convention. that was shown yesterday, the very first day of the convention -- the day before. labor day. downtown charlotte was turned into what they call the carolina fest and they just invited people from all over north carolina, south carolina neighboring states to come in, bring their families and tour the convention hall. tour the arena. sample the great south carolina food. it was a wonderful celebration. under this question, are we better off today than we were four years ago. jerry is out in hamilton, ohio. hey, jerry, good morning. jerry, are you there? >> caller: yes, i'm here, sir. >> bill: good morning. thanks for your call. what's your answer? >> caller: absolutely. we're doing much better than what we were four years ago. what people have to realize, it was the policies of george w.

bush who drove the economy into the tank and it is going to take some time to dig out of that hole and i think president obama is definitely taking the country in the right direction. >> bill: he's made a lot of progress in the last four years. a long way to go but i think it is an indicator if you look at the dow the markets if you look at corporate profits, if you look at the auto industry, you know, housing may not be doing that well. too many people are still underwater in their homes but for the rest of the economy we're definitely on our way back. >> yes we are. i agree with you wholeheartedly. >> bill: jerry thanks so much for the call. ohio. key state. president obama has been there a lot in the last couple of years. he will be there even more in the next couple of months. chris is calling from madison wisconsin. hey, chris, welcome to the program. >> caller: great show. my quick anecdotal case here. yes, i am a re-sounding yes.

i'm doing much better than four years ago. quick little history for people. what people may not know that are part of the act included grants for research. i was a non-traditional student going back to school. anyone who's gone toward science or engineering you make your post-graduate career based on have you done research or did you do an internship. simple fact that that money existed for me to get into a research opportunity made the difference for -- once i graduated. i'm making three times the money i did when i was working my crappy job in my early 20s. this is what we forget. what happens with paul ryan, long-term consequence of those investments, we calculate. >> bill: paul ryan getting rid of the pell grants as well. it is interesting chris one of the things that president obama often talks about that we have to continue investing in, right

is higher education and research grants because we have to -- >> caller: growth we had back in the '50s and '60s coming out of world war ii where every kid went to college and it was paid for. this is the reason we have growth in this country because we invest hard core into education. >> bill: mitt romney's answer is ask your parents for more money if you need money to go to college. of course -- thanks, chris so much for the call. he was able to do that without any problem. most americans cannot. kirkland is down in atlanta georgia. hey, kirkland, good morning. >> caller: how you doing bill? >> bill: good. glad to hear from you. >> caller: i'm doing much better than i was four years ago. in fact, four years ago i owned a plumbing company. i'm a master plumbing. and when the housing bubble burst, i watched the business just go down, down, down. and well thanks to obama care,

ply wife is in the medical field absolutely yes. obama 2012. >> bill: is that right? good for you. good for your wife. are you both involved in this new business? >> yes. yes we are. it shows a lot of promise. in fact, we look to make -- ooh boy. do better than it did. >> bill: i'm glad to hear that. it is working for you. >> bill: thank you kirkland. glad to hear from you. let's jump out to san antonio texas. hello, kathy. good morning. welcome to charlotte. >> caller: good morning! good morning. in regards to we're doing just fine but i'm wondering how the country is going to fair under the ryan/romney and i use that order intentionally. >> bill: i do, too. >> caller: administration. i'm shocked that the evangelicals are not shocked by the number of lies.

they're building a foundation on a web of lies. and as christians, we believe that god is the god of truth and satan is the father of lies. when you tell a lie you walk closer and closer to the wrong camp. and as far as i'm concerned they're walking in the wrong direction. >> bill: you know what, kathy? that's a very interesting point. i haven't heard anybody else make that point about evangelicals and the lies that the republicans have told. but i think what they have decided is yes, god is a god of truth. and it is important as christians to always tell the truth except in the case of barack obama. right? and then starting with paul ryan and then mitt romney, then it is okay to tell any lie that you want including the fact that president obama would steal $716 billion from medicare when we know that's not the case. we know he would cut some of the

excessive payments to insurance companies under medicaid and thereby extend medicare -- and extend the life of the program. we also know that paul ryan would make the same savings in his budget. he doesn't tell that. it's a big, fat lie. they don't seem to mind the lies one that has to do with president obama. kathy, so good to hear from you. ray is calling from the great state of tennessee. hi ray. good morning. >> caller: yeah, you were naming the many ways that people are better off than they were four years ago but i haven't heard you mention the stock market crash. if you had money in the stock market, you lost 1/3 of your life savings. if you didn't have money in the stock market but you owned your home, lost 1/3 of its value. if you had a 401(k) retirement plan, it lost 1/3 of its value. so you know, that, in addition to all of the other things you say, hell, yes we're better off than we were four years ago

under george retard. >> bill: well said, ray. i appreciate it. here we are in charlotte at the democratic national convention. this is the "full court press." we'll be right back on this tuesday morning. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: broadcasting live from charlotte, north carolina the site of the democratic national convention, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: okay. we are in charlotte. president obama is not.

he doesn't arrive until wednesday. actually. but he's got -- he is on the road again today. these key swing states, you're going to see the president there more and more often after receiving the briefing today at the white house. the president will be heading out to andrews air force base and then going down to norfolk virginia. at 12:35 today east coast time of course, he will be delivering remarks at a campaign event in norfolk, virginia and then heading back to washington d.c. arriving back at the white house at 4:40 this afternoon. deputy press secretary josh earnest will gaggle aboard air force i. no briefing at the air force today so i won't be missing anything by being here in charlotte. governor jack markel from the diamond state, the state of delaware will be our guest in the next hour of the "full court press" live from the democratic national convention. so stay with us! and we'll be right back.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hello everybody. what do you say? welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. this tuesday morning. we're live from charlotte north carolina. and the first day of the democratic national convention. and i gotta tell you this is going to be a much, much, much more different convention here in charlotte than you saw last week in tampa. there are a lot more delegates. the delegations are much more

diverse or much better reflect the face of america. nobody will be talking to an empty chair and first lady michelle obama kicks off the convention tonight with her keynote speech. lots going on. we're glad to be here with all of you. but first, we take a quick break to get the latest, today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. good morning. >> good morning everyone. we are awaiting some big speakers. the democratic national convention tonight in charlotte. and as bill mentioned most notably is michelle obama who we are expecting will highlight her humble background and work to convince struggling americans that her husband understands what they are going through. but a new poll from the pew research center shows voters are more interested in party platforms than they are in convention speakers. the democrats platform is out.

as we expected, the party is offering its first formal support of same-sex marriage rights. it is calling for a comprehensive immigration plan that will help immigrants pay taxes and learn english. it takes a jab at romney's outsourcing record saying democrats want tax breaks for companies that invest in america while the republican candidate invested in companies that ship jobs overseas. and speaking of romney and his time at bain, the new york attorney general is investigating the company right now. it might have used the carried interest tax loophole to avoid paying millions in taxes to state and federal governments. one more question for the dnc. can democrats top clint eastwood's empty chair routine. some democrats are asking betty white to speak. the petition has 6,000 signatures and the bring betty white to the facebook page has almost 26,000 likes. but as bill mentioned no

mystery guest is expected. and the obama campaign has no plans for white to speak. more bill coming up. stay with us. cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. brought to you by: spiriva handihaler. if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both.

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septic subscriber program helps prevent backups by sending you monthly doses right to your door so you will never forget to maintain your system. sign up at rid-x.com. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] across the nation on your radio >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey forget that stupid convention in tampa. this is the real thing! this is the democratic national convention in charlotte north carolina. and we're here, good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station great to see you today on this tuesday september 4th. hour number three of the "full court press." again, broadcasting live from

the time-warner cable arena. this is where the democratic national convention will be held tonight and tomorrow night. thursday first of all tonight michelle obama and julian castro, the mayor of houston -- is it houston or dallas? >> san antonio. >> bill: i'm sorry. san antonio, yes indeed. giving the keynote address. tomorrow night, vice president joe biden and senator john kerry and then both here and at time-warner cable arena. thursday, we all move not so far away, about half a mile away to the bank of america stadium. 74,000 people to hear president obama accept the nomination of the democratic national committee and move officially into his campaign for re-election. we're here on radio row and the time-warner cable arena bringing youel full "full court press" with all of our guests today. your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. here's the way it works.

we've got peter ogborn here in studio with us. >> in my native south. i feel at home. >> bill: not far from south carolina. >> the american south. >> bill: is this the better of the carolinas? >> how dare you say that. [ laughter ] >> bill: then we've got our crew out in los angeles as always and in -- at the mothership back in washington, d.c., dan henning cyprian bowlding, hello, guys and phil brackert in this morning handling your calls. we've got l.a., charlotte, washington d.c. all part of the show this morning. good to have you with us. and we welcome for the first part of our last hour together this morning corey is a senior vice president of box global but for a few years, he was communications consultant and -- more than that. you were director of specialty media for the obama white house corey, right?

>> that's correct. >> bill: good to see you today. >> good to be with you. >> bill: good to have you here in charlotte. we've got lots to talk about about how this team is doing getting its message across in this important campaign. we'll get to that. we'll take your calls again at 1-866-55-press. but dan henning corey always stands by with the real news of the day. the "full court press." here he is. >> this is the "full court press." >> good tuesday morning from washington. other headlines making news, drink up! the best kept secret in washington in recent weeks is no more. the white house kitchen released the beer recipes for the honey ale and honey porter over the weekend. along with a video compilation of the brewing process. any home brewer can make the beer with all of the ingredients except they cannot get the honey from the white house garden. >> bill: yes but the big question is when do we, at the white house press corps get a taste of the white house beer?

>> i don't want to maybe say anything i shouldn't say but this cup is actually filled with the white house beer. i got some. i got some. >> bill: whoa, whoa! were they making this beer when you were there? >> this is the first i've heard of the white house beer. i didn't hear about it previously. i don't even drink beer but i will drink president obama's beer. as soon as i get my hands -- i'm able to get my hands on some. i'll do it. >> how dare anybody ask whether we're better off today than we were four years ago. we have beer in the white house. george bush didn't even drink. >> it was probably triggered by the beer summit. >> bill: all right dan. >> actor russell crow was no master and commander in the seas off long island. the huffingtonst post reports he and a friend got lost. had to be rescued by the u.s. coast guard after dark. he thanked the officers for a ride back to the harbor. it was about ten miles away. then signed autographs, posed

for photos. crowe is in long island filming a movie. he was trying to enjoy a day off. >> the coast guard has to come rescue you in your kayak you know i mean only -- probably only russell crowe. >> you're not such a tough guy. >> how many people would have the u.s. coast guard come out after them? >> the paralymphic athlete known as made runner lost in the 200 meter race for the below the knee amputees over the weekend and he did not take that loss in stride. oscar pistorius losing to alan olivier of brazil and claimed his prosthetic legs were longer than allowed giving him an unfair advantage. businessorious said -- pistorius said he is not a 21-second athlete. he did later apologize for his harsh comments. the race results will stand. >> bill: this is a guy that we originally criticized, peter

when he was running in the real olympics. >> blade runner. >> bill: i love the fact. he lost this race to another -- >> from the paralympics. >> then whines about it. >> dan, thank you. >> corey, good to see you. tell us a little bit about your work at the white house. you were director of special media. is that online media or overall communications? >> well, we have a unit in the white house that deals particularly with specialty media. what that means is you have the general media which is folks like you and cnn and "the new york times," then you have media focused on specific communities. african-americans, hispanic, women, lgbt, military, et cetera. we have a team in the white house that is specifically designed to deal with the media that communicates with those

audiences. that's what i was a part of when i was there. >> bill: i see. directed toward specific groups. who get part of their information from guys like me overall. but also have particular publications or shows that are directed toward them. >> exactly. the reason we do that is because we want to make sure that those organizations, those communities don't get lost in the shuffle of the huge mass that is the main media. because you all can consume a lot of oxygen. we want to make sure these more unique communities get a special touch to make sure they get the specific information they need. >> bill: like a laser focus that way. >> absolutely. good way to describe it. >> bill: has every white house had this? is it a new invention of the obama administration? >> it is pretty consistent. what changes is agree to what an administration will invest in. you generally have more

conservative administrations who don't invest in this part of the set-up as much as other administrations to. with president obama coming into office this basic mirrored the exact set we had in the campaign. we kept it going. >> bill: yesterday in the convention center here which is a couple of blocks down from the arena, i was just checking things out. i saw this one big room full of a lot of people in there working at their laptops and computers. part of the media. i walked in to see what was going on. it was the specialty media of the obama campaign that was all there. the people from the d triple c the dscc, you name them all. there were over 100 people in that room. the campaign now is very much

into targeting specific audiences. >> no question. and you absolutely have to be because not only do you want to ensure that they get the overall message. you want to make sure they get the specific messages that pertain to their community. because we want them to understand how the president's policies are directly impacting their community on a daily basis. again, that's something that you don't get -- in the general media, you'll get a flash story when the president used the executive order part of the dream act. that's the story that will capture the national audience. oftentimes, there are nuance stories that will penetrate that won't make it through in general media but in specialty media will break through. we want to make sure that they have the information they need. that's why they're there. >> bill: when you look overall now, at the obama campaign, big challenge. running for re-election.

a race that -- most people i talk to think looks closer than it should be. those of us who are obama supporters feel hey he's done such a good job. he ought to be 20 points ahead. the president keeps saying it is going to be a close election. he knows that. he's working his butt off. but so given all of that overall, how good a job do you think the campaign is doing as a communications adviser in their -- in getting their message out? >> i think they're doing an amazing job and i don't say that just because they're my former colleagues. you have to go back all the way back to last year when we had certainly not the magnificent seven, more like the seven dwarfs who were running for the republican nomination during the process. throughout all of the up and down and all of the back and forth, the obama for america organization always projected that mitt romney would be the

one who emerged from that system. from that -- all of that going on. they were able to begin shaping people's impressions and opinions of him from very early on. so i give them a lot of credit for projecting that. having the nerve to double down on that and now we are where we are. with monoammon know with him. despite the fact that the economy is not doing as well as we would like, that we are still as close as we are. because we have done a good job of educating the american people about exactly who mitt romney is. that's one thing i give him tremendous credit for. the next part of that as we go into the next 60 days -- >> bill: hold on there just a second. we've talked about this in the -- in the last couple of weeks. if you look at the numbers in the polling for -- even though

it might show 45, 44, 47, 47. monoammon know, if you look at which of the guys -- which of these two men really cares about people like you, president obama has like a 15 or 20-point advantage. >> absolutely. >> in every poll. >> because of the job you pointed out. the second point is where you give them credit. >> the second point is now we transition to the next 60 days where the hammer is going to be tut down very hard and very convincingly on striking the contrast. i think we spent the summer once again because of the nature of our business, continuing to define the opposition. because it was absolutely necessary because of the misinformation they were communicating about themselves. the record had to be corrected in real time and again i think the campaign did a tremendous job of that because again you see that reflected in the likability numbers. a tremendous gap between where

president obama and governor romney are on the likability issue. we know that's very important. that's why they're releasing beer recipes from the president. because they want him to be seen as the common man as opposed to the opposition. it is important we continue to strike the contrast from a policy perspective. i think once we begin to do that and once we enter into october we start having the one on one debates, the friday night fights where you have a debate every week including the vice presidential debate. that's where the contrast is going to be stronger. >> bill: 19 minutes after the hour. corey is senior vice president of vox global. corey, good work. good to see you today. >> good to be here as always. >> bill: i'm glad the president had the advantage of your good advice. how do people keep in touch with you? >> they can reach me, corey

elans on twitter. >> bill: we'll be right back here on the "full court press" live from charlotte. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our guest from the ploughshares fund on the "full court press." >> announcer: starting on time and with better weather from the site of the democratic national convention in charlotte north carolina this is the "bill press show." >> bill: welcome back, everybody. welcome to charlotte. hospitality indeed. first day of the democratic national convention. joined here now in studio, i guess we could call it on radio

row by a member of the democratic national committee just re-elected for her fifth term on the dnc. also member of the california democratic party. chair of the women's caucus. california democratic party and vice president of the veterans and military families council and her new book is out "campaign boot camp two". christine pelosi. nice to see you. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: i want to talk to you about veterans and military families particularly because i noticed in mitt romney's speech to the convention, he never mentioned either the war in iraq or the war in afghanistan and he never said anything about veterans and their families. >> it was really a shock frankly. first of all thanks for having me here. it is wonderful. i actually lost my voice giving a boot camp two. >> bill: you know, usually people lose their voice by the end of the convention.

>> i'm already on my way back. >> bill: day one. you've already lost your voice. you're on your way back. >> that's the way it is. we're will have excited about the work that president obama's doing for veterans and that michelle obama has done. along with first blue star families of the iraq and afghanistan war to serve in the white house. that would be the bidens. so it's awful that mitt romney did not mention veterans or military families. it is even worse what his platform would fail to do in terms of funding their needs and bringing them home safely, honorably and soon. >> bill: because of the ryan budget and the cuts in those programs. >> this is an american safety net for our vets. what we have to be able to do is say look, we honor every american family who serves our country. these are the 1%. these folks are the 1%. 95% of blue star families when polled say they believe that mainstream americans do not

understand their concerns so democrats are bridging the military/civilian divide. the president is doing that. house democratic leader nancy pelosi is doing that. with our record on veterans, we'll be able to compete toe to toe including here in north carolina. >> bill: being part of the white house press corps one of the things i've noticed is the president himself and as you just mentioned the first lady, they have made this a top priority. often, president was at fort bliss last week meeting with military families. i mean you often see them on the road. i've been to the navy yard in washington, d.c. with the president meeting with military families. they made this a top priority. >> they did and tammy duckworth running for congression in illinois. >> bill: fabulous candidate. >> who lost her legs in the war what people don't understand is that barack obama is the kind of person who visit you it is a polaroid. they hand it to you. they don't take it away to put it on a web site. i had so many conversations with

then senator obama when no press was around, when nobody knew. it is that kind of quiet service for the people that president obama has called the quiet heroes of america including his own family's generation. the greatest generation. we feel it is important to honor families, give them policies that keep families safe. and leave no veteran behind on the battlefield, in the community or at the ballot box. >> bill: is that going to be a focus of this convention, do you think? >> absolutely. you'll see that commitment showcased all week. i hope everybody tunes in and remembers support your veterans and military families. you, too mitt romney. >> bill: christine pelosi on the job on the dnc. good friend for a long time. great to you have here. >> thank you so much. >> bill: enjoy the rest of the convention. with your mother, with your daughter. with all of our fellow democrats. >> thank you. >> bill: we'll be right back with the governor of delaware.

cover the convention. but only current puts you at the collision of tv and social media, providing unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

>> announcer: broadcasting live from charlotte, north carolina the site of the democratic national convention, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: welcome back, everybody. welcome to the first day of the -- whoa. the national democratic convention. >> old habits die hard. >> bill: i almost said the california democratic party. this is the real deal here in charlotte, north carolina. and it is very appropriate that on the first day of the democratic national convention, we welcome the governor of the

first state my home state of dell delaware, governor jack markel. >> we're proud of the press family. not only in delaware city but in the entire state of delaware. >> bill: are you taking good care of delaware city? >> it is such a great town. >> bill: fun place to grow up. it looks beautiful. with fort delaware there, more and more people visiting the fort. and delaware looks good. we were over in fenwick island. up in bethany and rijo both. should we keep it a secret, governor? they're the best in the world. >> the natural resources defense council just said that rehe had both and dewey were ranked like that. bethany was rated as one of the hidden gems. the whole coast there in

delaware, great beaches and restaurants. i took my family down last weekend. we stayed floor thee days. rehoboht took the trail. >> bill: head of the national governors association. and so you have -- have had a lot of opportunities to work with the obama administration. as a chief executive of delaware. how do you rate their policies in terms of helping local government basically helping middle class families? >> first let me make clear, i'm not here as chair of the national governor's association but as governor of delaware. they've been very, very good to work with. they're incredibly responsive. i can go from cabinet secretary to cabinet secretary. when we have had issues, they have been extremely responsive and in terms of focusing on policies to help middle class

families, that's what this convention is all about. my view is that the contrast between the parties is just incredibly stark. the contrast between the approaches that the president and governor romney are taking are really, really stark. what i'm hoping is that the president and the entire podium will lay out those differences. >> bill: do you think that the treatment that delaware has received has anything to do with the fact that joe biden is the vice president? >> first of all we're very proud of joe biden. >> bill: amen. >> but here's what i know. i think other governors of both parties would have to say the same thing. in the early days of the obama administration the vice president was put in charge of really making sure that the stimulus money was spent wisely. i personally participated on probably five or six phone calls with a handful of other governors each time with the vice president. he did this many times with all governors on both parties. he said if you're having any

issues in your statement we can be helpful with, if there are any kind of bottleneck at the federal government, we want to know about it. we want to make sure the money is put out there wisely. putting people to work today on projects that will help create prosperity over a longer period of time. we have gotten lots of responsiveness. it is not unique to delaware. >> bill: he was -- he was the manager of that whole project. i thought it was very impressive. when you look back the money was well spent. little or no waste created 3.2 million jobs. i just wish it had been bigger. i wish we would have a second stimulus. that was a very successful program as president obama's program. president biden, vice president biden made it work. >> one of the frustrations is people want to rewrite history. they say that the money was not put to good effect. i can tell you even in our state and for people on the northeast

living in mid-atlantic and the northeast area, lots of people used to complain when they would come up i-95 from maryland to delaware, thanks to the stimulus, we were able to invest and we have the high-speed ez pass lane. the congestion is largely gone. >> bill: that was a huge bottleneck. how many of our viewers and listeners happened to go through that. >> if you haven't been through it recently, you should. we changed last july. that's one project. i met so many people. i remeeting a guy 40 years old. he was put to work during the stimulus. the expansion of a park-and-ride lot near middletown, delaware. i met this guy. he said he was so proud to have this opportunity to go back to work. he was a very proud guy. had always worked with the economy being in a free fall in '08 and '09. he said the hardest conversation

he had was to go home to his wife and twin 10-year-old boys and tell them about being out of work. as a result of the project, he was back at work. there's no question we have a long way to go. the president's the first to say we have a long way to go. if you think of about where we were losing 700,000 800,000 jobs a month. we're in a better place. we certainly have more work to do. >> bill: i'm glad you went there. ever since ronald reagan first maybe raised this question in 1980, running against jimmy carter, who was running for re-election, the question, are you better off than you were for your -- that's a valid question. it is on the front page of "the new york times" and "the washington post" today as the question -- the first most important question facing this convention. we talked about joe biden and we are both big joe biden fans and

i think the people of delaware are proud of the vice president. he has his own style and that's why we love him. dan, if we can the vice president was on the road in campaign trail i think it was ohio or wisconsin yesterday. and he raised -- addressed this question, are you better off today than you were four years ago? in his own style here he is. >> you want to know whether we're better off? i've got a bumper sticker for you. osama bin laden is dead and general motors is alive! >> that's our vice president. >> there he is. >> he sums it up. >> that sums it up. >> it says a lot. >> let's look at the facts. we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs month after month after month. and now we've had 29 straight months of job growth. we have more to do. there's no question about it. but i mean -- the other thing is

right after the president took office, i took office the same day. a month later, the president invited all of the governors to the white house. we had a meeting of the national governor's association at the white house. we had the opportunity to meet as governors with timothy quiter in and peter the budget director at the same time. all three of them separately said we think we can get the economy going again but the financial markets are frozen. what happens if we can't get that fixed? they said we're at an abyss. we can't tell you what it looks like if we can't step back from it. thank god we stepped back from it. that's not to say that things are perfect. they're not. there are a lot of americans who want to work that aren't working. >> bill: jobs, the number one issue. governor jack markel our guest here in the time-warner cable arena.

here in charlotte. the first day of the democratic national convention. we always have an extra seat at the table for you. give us a call to join the conversation at 1-866-55-press. we'll take a quick break and then governor, we'll talk about the other big question of this convention is which of the two candidates has the best plan for moving this country forward and continuing the progress that we have made on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." unsurpassed insight into the most buzz worthy tweets, posts and pontifications, from the entire social stratosphere including you. join in, tweet us, and you could be a part of our on-air and online coverage. >>now that is politically direct. (vo) ...after the premiere of joy behar: say anything

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>> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: live from a democratic national convention in charlotte, north carolina this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: welcome y'all. that's what we have to say here in charlotte north carolina. good to you have with us here on the "full court press." so proud to welcome to our tv radio set studio here on radio row. at the time-warner cable arena the governor of delaware. governor jack markell. thanks for coming in today. we should mention we've talked a lot about joe biden. joe, delaware is blessed with two great united states senators today and tom cochran and chris koonce. >> as well as john carney. >> we have what i believe to be the best congressional delegation in the country. not only are they really good at what they do in washington. they're very effective advocates for jobs in delaware. as governor, it is important for me to have those kinds of partners. they're doing a great job.

>> bill: we do have a lot of people who want to talk to the question of are we better off today than we were four years ago. the other question coming out of the convention, the message is between the two candidates, moving forward that barack obama has the better plan for america and for middle class families. that certainly is a message you've been carrying across the country. >> it is the most important message here at the convention. that's what's going to define what happens in november and to the extent that we can make sure that's where the debate is focused, that's what people are paying attention to, i believe the president should win. his plan for building an economy for the middle class is a much better plan. >> bill: strategically, do you think that mitt romney maybe should have thought twice before he qhoas as his running mate the architect of the ryan house republican budget? >> well i do think -- >> bill: certainly ties him to his budget.

>> absolutely. in fact, i believe he said that he planned to enact the ryan plan within his first 100 days. >> bill: yes. >> as people understand more clearly that that plan essentially means 200,000 fewer kids will be in head start. a million fewer young people will have access to the pell grants, those are pretty important issues in terms of economic mobility and people having the opportunity to move up. that's what this country has been all about. i think it is one of the things that's gotta come out of the convention a the president's gotta make sure people understand his plan and b people have to understand the plan and the differences between them. >> bill: what do you tell people when -- might be tempted to believe mitt romney and paul ryan both in tampa looking at the camera and telling the american people "we will save medicare and medicaid, we are the ones who will protect it and

make sure it's there for future generations." >> i don't think is a credible claim for them to make. going to the voucher plan, independent analysts have said that would add well over $6,000 to the cost of obtaining healthcare for seniors. >> bill: voucher care versus medicare. >> that's on the medicare piece. on the medicaid piece what they want to do is do the block grants to the states. what that means is states could be left holding the bag. state taxpayers could be left holding the bag because the odds of the amount of money keeping up with healthcare inflation is really, really small. here's the critical issue here. the president's bill and i was flad to hear when the president said he was happy to have the name obama care attached to it, the president's bill focuses on ways to reduce the cost of healthcare. he certainly increasing access. he has a number of pieces in place. there are some fancy words that go along where it.

the key here and there's some very interesting pilots going on around the country moving away from what has become a sick care system where providers get paid depending on how many procedures they do toward a healthcare system where they get paid versus how healthy they keep people. >> bill: which is the way it ought to be when it comes to healthcare. we ought to be rewarding people based on results. quickly, let's say hello to dave from asheville north carolina. >> caller: how is it going? >> bill: pretty good. >> caller: listen, about how if we're better off or not from george w. bush's policies and i really think what needs to be driven home is they're not george w. bush's policies. they're republican policies. they're the same as they've been for a long time. i think something like that will gain a little more attraction

because there's republicans and democrats who don't want to hear anything about president george w. bush. i don't think there's a whole lot of traction to that argument as much as there is these are republican policies. >> bill: good point. thanks so much for the call. governor i think that to the extent that it is a way of reminding people that they may have been george bush's policies but the romney/ryan plan would be to bring the policies back as i said on steroids. >> for me, the campaigns are very much about the future and so the choice is -- i believe that the president is laying out a series of policies to move us -- you know, forward. but i think you would have to say, i'm not trying to editorialize here. if you look at some of the policies, many of the policies that have been proposed by the republican ticket, they're actually quite similar to what got us into the mess in the first place. so i do think -- for me, it is

less about you know, assigning blame to one person or another. but it is saying here are the two different approaches, one which is more likely to build a strong middle class? >> bill: it is okay to editorialize on this program. it is what i do for a living. we welcome that. they want to try to run away from some of these policies. i love it when mitt romney says, for example that's the republican party platform. you know. it is not my platform. >> absolutely. there's a question about how much of the ryan budget he's supporting. but in fact he said earlier he wanted to implement the ryan plan within the first 100 days. i think they were very much tied at the hip. it is a point for people to understand what's in the budget and their proposals. >> bill: having you here reminds me and i hope reminds our listeners and our viewers

time to talk about this but just a final point how important the job of governor is and why we need more democratic governors and fewer people like a scott walker and a john kasich. editorial on that. >> being a governor is a great job. what i love about it is we get to work on things that will make a difference today and tomorrow, putting people back to work. we also get to work on things that will change our states in 15 20, 25 years. that's especially around education. i'm more excited about what's going on in education and delaware than i've ever been. >> bill: as a native delawareen, i'm proud of what you're doing. i'm going to be back with a quick parting shot here from charlotte. >> >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv.

it doesn't matter who you are. she was trying to be cool. she walks in, bonus, bonus bonus, bonus. [ screaming ] by the way in heels, the same [ applause ] >> wow. >> stephanie: she's awesome. as is john fuglesang. thank you, boston. 18 minutes after the hour. let's continue on "the stephanie miller show." >> announcer: for a good time, call now.

(vo) this is joy. >>who the heck does mitt romney think he is? (vo) this is joy on current tv. >>if mitt romney treats his magic underwear the same way as his tax returns, then he's been going commando for the past 10 years.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: okay. on this tuesday september 4 my parting shot for today you know, here at the democratic national convention in charlotte and across the nation, there's only one real question facing voters and that is one we've been talking about this morning. are you better off today than you were four years ago? it is a question first asked so effectively by ronald reagan in 1980 when jimmy carter was running for re-election and the answer then was clearly no. but when that question is asked today with barack obama running for re-election i think the answer is clearly damn straight! true. a lot of middle class americans are still hurting.

too many americans are out of a job but overall, compared to where we were four years ago things have greatly improved! think about it. four years ago, we were mired down in two wars. today the war in iraq is over. the war in afghanistan is winding down. four years ago, we were hemorrhaging jobs at a rate of 800,000 a month. today we're adding private sector jobs at over 100,000 a month. four years ago millions of americans couldn't buy health insurance even if they could afford it. today, 36 million americans have health insurance for the first time. and my friends that is all thanks to barack obama. that's my parting shot for today. thanks for being with us here in charlotte. first day of the democratic national convention. tomorrow we'll be joined by diana, congresswoman from colorado. congressman chris van hollen from maryland. what a great day. you have a great day and we'll see you right back here in charlotte again tomorrow.